Reagan's Evil Empire speech
President Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech, delivered in 1983 at a convention of the National Association of Evangelicals, characterized the Soviet Union as a malevolent force that posed a significant threat to freedom and democracy. This declaration came during a period of heightened tensions in the Cold War, as Reagan called for increased military spending to counter the Soviet SS-20 missiles with American Cruise and Pershing II missiles deployed in Europe. The speech resonated with many in the public and media, contributing to the decline of nuclear freeze initiatives and empowering dissidents in Eastern Europe to resist communist regimes. Despite initial resistance to negotiations, Reagan eventually engaged in dialogue with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, paving the way for significant arms reduction agreements, including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987. By the mid-1980s, Reagan's view of the Soviet Union evolved, reflecting a belief in the potential for cooperation rather than confrontation. Some historians link the impact of the "Evil Empire" speech to the eventual dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the broader conclusion of the Cold War, marking a significant shift in international relations.
Reagan's Evil Empire speech
The Event President Ronald Reagan identifies the Soviet Union as an “evil empire”
Author Ronald Reagan, reading text written by speechwriter Anthony R. Dolan
Date March 8, 1983
Place Orlando, Florida
Reagan’s speech was intended to answer his critics by indicating that the Soviet Union was so unacceptable a regime that extraordinary measures should be taken to defeat it.
Key Figures
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), president of the United StatesAnthony R. Dolan (1948- ), speechwriter
President Ronald Reagan proposed increases in the military budget to deploy Cruise and Pershing II intermediate-range missiles in Europe in order to match the Soviet Union’s SS-20 missiles, thus raising suspicions that he might launch nuclear war against the Soviet Union and frightening many international observers into calling for a freeze on the deployment, development, and manufacture of nuclear weapons.
Speaking at a convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in the Sheraton Twin Towers Hotel, Orlando, Florida, Reagan sought to justify his position by emphasizing the nature of the enemy as an “evil empire” that must be stopped at all costs. The media and the public largely supported this assertion. As a result, the nuclear freeze campaign lost momentum: A congressional committee had just approved a resolution advocating a nuclear freeze, but the proposal was subsequently dropped.
The policy of merely deterring the Soviet Union was questioned as an unproductive continuation of the Cold War stalemate between the capitalist West and the communist East. Dissidents in the Soviet Union and under Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe were emboldened to organize resistance against communist regimes in their countries.
In response, the Soviet Union wanted to match America’s military expansion but lacked the funds to do so. Mikhail Gorbachev, after he was elected as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, tried to persuade Reagan to stop the American deployment of an antiballistic missile system, known as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), as well as the proposed increase in intermediate-range missiles in Western Europe, but Reagan at first refused. The two leaders reached such rapport in their conversations at the Reykjavik Summit during 1986, however, that they agreed in principle that all ballistic missiles should ultimately be abolished. They launched negotiations to reduce the number of nuclear weapons on both sides, resulting in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty of 1987. Their discussions also led to negotiations for agreements known as the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (START I and II). SDI was placed on the back burner. Finalization of the agreements was left to Reagan’s successors.
In 1986, Reagan was asked whether he still regarded the Soviet Union as an “evil empire.” He responded, “No,” believing that negotiations with Gorbachev had brought about a new era in East-West cooperation.
Impact
Some observers credit the “evil empire” speech with starting a chain reaction of events that led to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall separating communist East Germany from capitalist West Germany in 1989 and ultimately to the end of the Cold War by the end of the 1980’s.
Bibliography
Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: A New History. New York: Penguin, 2005. Credits Reagan’s speech as a turning point in the Cold War, abandoning the policy of deterrence.
Johns, Michael. “Seventy Years of Evil: Soviet Crimes from Lenin to Gorbachev.” Heritage Foundation Policy Review, Fall, 1987. Cites 208 examples of “evil” actions by the Soviet Union from 1917 until 1991, thereby defending the use of the term “evil empire” against Reagan’s critics.